French Club

>GRACE GORMAN, ADVISOR

FRENCH CLUB is open to all current and former French students with a love of the French language and culture. French Club is an active organization with opportunities for participation throughout the year.

Congratulations to the newly elected French Club Board for the 2007-2008 school year!

Co- Presidents:  Meghan Bachtel (12) and Leah Thompson (11)

Senior representatives:  Lauren Epner and Elizabeth Hoffman

Junior representatives:  Kelsey Lecerf and Sarah Clark

Sophomore representatives:  Jayme Yeaton and Angel Garnett

Freshmen representatives:  Johannes Vandermolen and Mary Corpas

 

FALL
The French Club's annual candy sale helps finance club activities and also provides a yearly St. V-M scholarship tuition credit and a scholarship to a graduating senior club member. This year’s sale will be in October.  Harry London chocolates sell for $1.00. Please support our students!

WINTER
Club members celebrate National French Week in November by heightening awareness of French language and culture. Activities include a ''French menu'' for lunch throughout the week, a French mini-lesson during morning announcements, French film clips over Channel One, a French mini-éclair sale during lunch, hallway decorations, a French food project shared and enjoyed by French II classes, a ''tricolore'' ribbon worn all week by French students, a French movie shown after school, and a French sweatshirt design contest!

The French Club celebrates the Christmas holidays by creating a French-theme Christmas tree for the decor of the Learning Resource Center. Members are also Les Anges de Noël (secret Christmas angels) for one another, in the tradition of Kris Kringles. Donating a French themed Christmas wreath to the Tree Festival sponsored by Children’s Hospital at Quaker Square is a recent addition to French Club activities. Look for the wreath called “Noël en France” at this year’s festival!

SPRING
At the club's annual Mardi Gras Party members relax, enjoy, and share a very nice after-school meal of French onion soup, French bread, Croissant sandwiches of ham and cheese, cheese tray, stuffed mushrooms, cheese cake and French apple tart, which they all helped to prepare. They also decorate the Board Room in French colors and with Mardi Gras masks.

For Seventh Grade Visitation Day in the spring, the French Club welcomes visiting students with a beautifully decorated, culture filled area and provided French mini-lessons. They acquaint visitors with the many reasons why proficiency in French, a language spoken on nearly every continent of the world, is a definite career advantage.
“Educate the Congo” a French Club sponsored humanitarian project to donate books, computers, educational supplies and money toward the building of learning centers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been very well received by our generous student body and St.V-M community. We will be collecting donations this year during the second week of May.

The French Club also schedules guest speakers when available throughout the year.

Look for news and updates at this web site. Our new board members are committed to making this year’s edition of French Club better than ever!

SUMMER

French Club’s “ Paris Par Excellence” Summer Trip---Magnifique!

In the summer, some members of St. Vincent-St. Mary’s French Club, along with their families, participated in a trip to France and enjoyed a fun, educational, and culturally enriching tour of Paris—the City of Light. French Club participants were Meghan Bachtel, Amanda Bordewick, Lauren Epner, Sarah Knight, and Shannon Phillips. Accompanying adults were Dr. Jeffrey and Mrs. Anne Bachtel, Mrs. Nancy Bordewick, and Mrs. Cindy Epner, Mr. Robert Gorman, and teacher/coordinator Mrs. Grace Gorman. Unfortunately, the Buehler family, originally scheduled to travel with us, was unable to participate because illness. We missed them! Please keep Mr. Buehler in your prayers. Students will receive ¼ academic credit in French for their participation upon submitting a scrapbook or multimedia project relating their experiences.

 

Visits to all the major monuments including Notre-Dame, la Sainte Chapelle, and la Place de la Concorde as well as spectacular views of Paris from atop La Tour Eiffel, l’Arc de Triomphe, Montmartre, and la Grande Arche de la Defense made this trip unforgettable.

 

Art lovers enjoyed viewing the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo at le Grand Louvre, rooms lined with water lilies at l’Orangerie, the Thinker at le Musée Rodin, and favorite Renoir, Degas, and Van Gogh impressionist paintings at le Musée d’Orsay.

 

Theater lovers enjoyed a special tour of l’ Opéra Garnier, made famous in Phantom of the Opera.

 

Attending a solemn high mass which was celebrated and sung in French at the Basilique du Sacré Coeur at the top of Montmartre was a heavenly experience! Portraits of our students sketched by local artists in this district provided another lasting memory.

 

Four side trips outside of Paris provided a change of pace and an opportunity to see the French countryside. La Villette, a hands-on science museum, provided interesting learning experiences in motion, light, physics, and theater technology, as well the opportunity to view an IMAX film on the largest screen in Europe. A trip to Giverny provided a tour of Monet’s home, gardens and water lily pond. A tour of the stunning château of Vaux-le-Vicomte helped us understand the motivation and inspiration behind the building of Versailles, our final visit and tour.

 

Culinary delights such as French onion soup, croissants, croque-monsieur, fromage de chèvre, boeuf bourguignon, crèpes, clafoutis, mousse au chocolat, and crème caramel were savored at many restaurants and cafés. Délicieux!

 

Of course the Parisian experience could not be complete without many rides (where we were sometimes crammed like sardines) on the Paris subway, le Métro, and shopping the huge sales at the Galéries Lafayette and designer shops such as Luis Vuitton on the Champs-Elysées!

 

In all, this trip was an extraordinary combination of history, cultural insight, and fun made possible by our excellent French guide, Lionel, who was eager to share his culture and language and to learn about ours. The cooperation, good humor, and openness of spirit of our students and parents created a family atmosphere and a trip that none of us will ever forget. Our parents, as well as our students, are to becommended in their outstanding efforts to immerse themselves into the culture and in their excellent use of French throughout the trip! C’était fantastique!